Although increasing vitamin D levels may help to reduce cancer deaths, health officials rarely recommend optimising levels for this purpose.

Vitamin D targets cancer in multiple ways, including anticancer, antimetastatic and anti-tumorigenic effects.

The best way to optimise your vitamin D level is through regular sun exposure, which enhances the production of melatonin – a potent anticancer agent.

More Evidence Showing Vitamin D Combats Cancer

By Dr. Joseph Mercola

I strongly recommend getting sensible sun exposure each day, and one of the reasons why is because it helps naturally optimise your vitamin D levels. Low vitamin D levels are linked to an increased risk of cancers,1 while vitamin D can attach to the vitamin D receptor ("VDR") in your cells, setting off a series of signals that may affect how they grow, develop and survive.2

In this way, vitamin D acts like a brake on the process of cell growth in many tissues of the body, helping to control the speed at which cells multiply. This is particularly important when it comes to cancer because one of the key features of this disease is cells growing out of control. Moreover, vitamin D has been observed in animal studies to help delay some age-related changes by activating another important pathway via the vitamin D receptor.

This pathway involves a molecule called Nrf2, which plays a crucial role in protecting your body from oxidative stress and DNA damage – two factors that are commonly linked to the development of cancer.3 Overall, evidence continues to accumulate showing that vitamin D is a strong ally to combat cancer.4